Running board



Dec. 23, 1947 c. s. JOHNSTON RUNNING BOARD Filed July 1, 1944 2 sheets sheet l Patented Dec. 23, 1947 UNITED PATENT owl-cs Gharles S; Johnston, Glencoe, 111., 7

Transportation... Specialties (20., Chicago,

corporation of Illinois Application. J 'uly '1", 1944, Serial"No. 543,1'64 3': Claims": (01. 105-451)! 1 This invention relates to running boards and more particularly to sectionalrunning boards for useon railroad cars and thelike.

One-of the objects ofthe invention-is topro- Vide'a-running board whichiseasy and inexpen SiVetOfabricate and assemble and which-provides a'- strong light weight construction.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a running board in whichthe parts are held assembled? by interfitting relatively together without requiring separate fastening means.

Still'another object of the invention is to pro= vide a" running board inwhich a pluralityofsec tions" areconnected' together andto the car by simple inexpensive fastening means. In one'preferred'con'struction, flanges project beyond the ends of. the sections and overlap with flanges on adjacent sections and are secured thereto and to the car by a single set of fastenings.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following descriptionwhenread in con nection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figural is a partial plan View of a railwayicar' having a running board embodying the. invention;

Figure 2 is 'a partial section On'the linei 2:-2c'of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged partial plan view of the running board;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4- of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a partial enlarged section of an alternative joint.

The running board of the invention is illustrated in connection with a conventional freight car construction although it will be understood that it might be used in many different environments. As shown, the freight car top is formed by the usual roof sheets ill connected together by vertical abutting flanges I! covered by capping strips 12. At the end of the car the end sheet has a downwardly turned flange l3 connected to a car end sheet [4.

The running board is formed by a plurality of sections each section as shown, being of a length to span two roof sheets. Each section is formed by transverse supporting members l5 adjacent the ends and in the central part of the section. Each supporting member is in the form of an angle bracket having a, horizontal flange and a vertical flange. If desired, transverse braces It may be provided between the supporting memassignor to! 2. bers and which are in the form ofverticalflat strips.

The treadsurface of the running board is formed, byaseries' of parallel longitudinally ex tendingi channel members- I! extending across the'supportin'g members. The web portions ofthe' channelmembers may be perforated? as indicated at l8to-form a-treadsuri'ace'of the'type more particularly described and claimed inthe patent toMoQrman No; 2,091,157.

In orderto'secure the channelmembers to the" supports and' transverse braces l6; the vertical flanges Ofthe supportsand the transverse braces are formed with pairs of slotsi l9topenat' the top and witlithe'slots of the pairs lying atan: acute angle to each other. Thesid'es of the'oh'anneIl members are" normally parallel and" are spaced" apart a distance equal to the distance between. the tops ofthepairsofslots" l9; Toassembl'etne' channel members on the supports the" sides. of the channel members are. place'dabove the slots and are forced down" into" the slots until webs of. the channelmembers'res't on the upper. edges of" theverticali flangesof"the supports and'theiupper edges of the braces" l6. This operationbends the sides"; of the channel members out ofpara'llelas indicated at 21 and securely locks the channel members to the supports andbra'c'es. It will be noted from Figure 3that the sides ofthe" channel members remain substantially parallel between the supports and braces. In this way, the channel members are securely fastened to the supports and, braces without the necessity of any separate fastening means to form a rigid running board section.

At the outer sides of the running board the supports and braces terminate in right angle edges and the outermost channel members are formed with long flanges 22 adapted to overlie such edges. Preferably, the flanges 22 are fastened to the edges of the supports and braces by welding or the like, this welding being the only assembling operation required other than the placing of the channel members against the supports and braces and forcing the sides of the channel members into the slots IS.

The several sections are assembled into a, completed running board on a railroad car or the like by providing brackets 23 secured to the flanges H and covers I2 by riveting, bolting or the like. The brackets have horizontally extending flanges which are adapted to underlie the horizontal flanges on the supports IS. The brackets and supports may be connected by a series of bolts 24 or like removable fastenings.

At the point where two running board sections connect as seen at the left of Figure 2, two brackets 23 may be provided each underlying one of the transverse supports on one of the running board sections so that the running board sections are connected together and to the car.

At the end of the car as seen at the right of Figure 2, an additional transverse support 25 may be provided carried beyond the end of the car by a bracket 26. The end sections are made longer than the central running board sections to 7 project beyond the ends of the car so that when several cars are coupled together a substantially continuous running board isformed;

Instead of providing separate brackets :23 at the points where the running board sections conwith the slots of each pair lying at an angle to each other, each of the slots lying at an angle other than a right angle to the upper edges of the supports, and a series of channel members nect, the running boards may be formed as shown in Figure 5 to be connected bya single bracket. In this construction, ports I5 is formed witha long horizontal flange 2'! extending beyond the ends of the channelmembers 11 to overlie the horizontal flange 28 of a support on an adjacent section. The horizontal flanges 2'! and 28 may be connected to each otherand to the bracket 23 by a single set of fastenings 29. In using this construction, one transverse support adjacent the end of each section will be formed with an elongated horizontal flange 21 while the other support on the same section will In this way, the sections can be assembled and connected to a car without requiring any special mounting brackets on the car and by the use of a single set of fastenings.

While two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail herein, it will be understood that these are illustrative only and are not intended as definitions of the scopeof the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A running board for railroad cars and the like comprising a series of transverse supports adapted to be secured to the car, the supports being formed with pairs of substantially straight slots extending downward from the top thereof with the slots of each pair'lying at an angle to each other, and a series of channel members normally having straight parallel sides extending have a shorter flange such as 28.'

one of the'transverse supnormally having straight parallel sides extending across the supports with their webs resting on the upper edges of the supports and their sides fitting into the pairs of slots and bent out of ,parallel thereby adjacent the supports,

3. In a sectional running board of the type including a series of sections to be connected end to end, a section comprisin transverse supports adjacent the ends of the section, the supports having vertically extending portions and horizontally extending portions, the vertically extending portions being formed with pairs of substantially straight slots open at the top with the slots of each pair lying at an angle to each other, and a series of channel members normally having straight parallel sides extending longitudinally of the section with their sides fitting into the slots and held out of parallel thereby adjacent the supports, one of the horizontally extending portions projecting beyond the ends of the channel members to overlie and connect to a horizontal portion on an adjacent section.

CHARLES S. JOHNSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,831,810 Jones Nov. 17, 1931 1,740,219 Berson Dec. 17, 1929 2,179,634.- Joyce et 'al. Nov. 14, 1939 

